Monkey See Monkey Do

Wah!! they are really intelligent aren't they? Thanks Mark for the link.

Jia

I am currently in the midst of preparing for my trip to Tibet, reading a book on travel when several interesting ideas popped in my head and i have this urge to blog about it... but then that brings me back to the thought that i still have an entry that i have procrastinated for a long time.

See! Because of your laziness ideas that would have be developed are now lost forever in the abyss of a monkey brain. So thats why i am here to write so as to free myself from the self imposed regulation of finishing something that i started.

SO.. yes Jia.. translated from mandarin it reads family. Growing up through our teenaged years how many of us really do appreciate the home and are truly thankful for the sacrifices our parents made for us? Other than a cheap pen holder or a crappy tie for the father.. what other lame excuses for expressions of affection did we show to the most important persons in our life? Well... going to the military, going overseas to study and basically growing up i really found the importance of family. So it kinda sux that my realization comes when i am away from my family... haha isn't that just basic human psychology, you never appreciate what you have, you only realize it when you lose it.

So feeling the typical pangs of homesickness and needlyness for that 'homey' feeling that any international student will encounter, i was really happy that Ian Durnan, a good friend of mine, invited me and Mark over to his house over the weekend. (technically 9 days ago cos i lazy to write mah) Having been to his house before on a couple of occasions, i even cooked for them once, i knew how tightly knit his family was. So it sort of provides a harbour for me to feel that homey feeling again.

This time it was father's day and Silvia was to prepare BBQ food, a combination of family feel goodness and good mexican food.. fwah how to reject such an offer.

Ok so let me introduce the Durnans, this is Ian my good friend and fellow student at the Eller College of Management.



This is Miranda, his bubbly younger sister.



Frank is Ian's benevolent dad and Silvia (one of the most amazing mothers i have ever met)



Below is Andre, the cutest little boy you will ever meet! He is so smart even though he is like 5 years old he talks like an adult. Being the little boy he is, he inevitably gets into all sorts of trouble, but the thing is you can barely get mad at him for more than 2 minutes because he is just too cute!



Ah, a video of him trying to kill me haha



Abuelita was there too, the grandmother but i did nto manage to get a picture of her too. Susanna was also there but i didn't manage to get a picture of her alone, you will see her in the final picture. She is the eldest sister of the family, a very witty and hilarious girl! ahha you have to talk to her and observe her when she speaks ahaha... cracking stuff.


Ok so the point of the blog is.... besides family is..... FOOD of course. Just to show you what i had. Silva is really a very talented cook, she doesn't juz slap the meat on the grill and make some rubbery bland excuse for BBQ. She takes real care and affection in her food. She first marinates the meat and then wraps them in tin foil, after which she gentle cooks them in an oven to aid even cooking and tenderness due to the moisture from the marinate wrapped in the wrap. Then hor.. she takes these packages of love and sets them on the grill, she opens up the package and then grills the entire thing until the juices from the marinate and the meat are evaporated. The result is a tender and moist piece of meat with the charred and smoky taste from the final step of grilling the thing on the grill. WAH scrumptious. It was honestly one of the best BBQs i have ever had and all thanks to Silvia's dedication to good food! So now i can show you the food.

BBQ Chicken breast, even though it was chicken breast.. darn... it was so tender



Sausage links.. i know i know sausages are bad, but these ones... they have a different type of casing that gives a firm crunch to the bite, kinda like biting into a brakwurst... but with the smoky flavor.. hhmm..



Beef steaks marinated with italian salad seasoning and other spices...mmmmmmmh...



Mexican bean soup!! wah i always never really liked beans but this one... man.. Abuelita first fried a mixture of grease, bacon garlic, spring onions, chili powder and spices. Then She adds them a pot of freshly cooked beans and water.. man.. you can't believe how tasty this stuff is!



And this ... i think Kenny Rogers, Famous Daves or Tony Romas or all those supposed BBQ greats can go home and sleep liao.. Wah Silva has arrived man. I think these pieces of pork ribs have single handedly defeated all other western styled BBQ ribs i have ever had. You see all those restaurants smear the ribs with thick sauce, Silvia wasn't even smeared with that type of sauce and it still tasted better. wow.. i actually had the audacity to 'take away' some of these pork ribs for my consumption at home and a few days later, it still tasted as good. The smokeyness and flavour the tenderness... i shouldn't even bother try to describe it... it would only shame it in my reproduction.



haha this is my plate with very good quesillos...! which is melted mexican cheese wrapped in tortillas. The BBQ spring onions also accompanies my feast.



Short video of the feast and this is especially directed to Kris Vaz! haha



Family picture with Mark. Susanna is the one in grey and the one in blue is Ian's girlfriend.



The family and the monster.




So i am glad that i also do have a family in the states! :)

Japanese shows rock!!

I always get side tracked, i just finished uploading pictures for my next blog when i decided to check out Mr Brown's website. OMG!! The Japanese just reaffirmed my faith in them, i am sure that this is worth your time. dun worry its office safe! :)

Project World Cup 2006

I sometimes marvel at the things that two soccer crazy guys can come up with.

We felt that our tiny 27 inch TV was doing the world's most important tournament little justice. So we got a projector... thinking that it would project a nice image. It worked fine the image was great..



Until we realised that there was no screen to project the image on...

So how??... we decided to BUILD a screen...

First we had to purchase 3 feet of regal white vinyl cloth as the reflective surface.

Then we had to build a frame to hang the vinyl cloth. So off to home depot to get some wood.. (for my international and singaporean friends, its this super hypermart of do-it-yourself items.)



Shrini in ecstasy after finding the right wood..



Shrini doing the work while i slack.. haha



Then we needed to get some corner brackets to join up the pieces of wood



Now my turn to work..



The completed frame!! Looks easy but it took us a good four days to in stops and starts to finish it. So after this, we stapled the white vinyl to the frame and voila!!



Its like a mini home theatre!



Ah.. the fruits of our labour!




Cost of Projector A lot
Cost of Drill USD $15
Cost of Wood USD $40
Cost of White Cloth USD $20
Cost of Stapler, Glue and Corner Brackets USD $25
Effect on a guy's Ego Priceless!!

What the ??????????????

I was about to post a blog on the project that Shirini and i undertook.. until i saw this...

I know its probably not going to help with the stereotypes of the Japanese people, and i LOVE the japanese... but this is just too.....

i mean what the &*^%!!!!! who in the right mind does something like that??? you drive me crazy???????? hahaha especially the old men on the streets... i mean how much would you have to pay to make people do stuff like that? Ok you form your own opinion.

Jamie Cullum

Wow Jamie Cullum is already coming to singapore? Damn.. thats fast.. caught his concert two weeks ago in Tucson and i must say it was worth every single penny. He was a great entertainer and impressive with his ability to play different instruments.

But thats not the kicker... for those who actually go to his concert.. you should really see how short this guy is.. no offense to him.. he is a very talented artiste... but i just could not get over his height..

First thing that came to my mind when i saw his poster was one word, "Hobbit". sorry la.. but he really look like hobbit sia... i can so imagine his in the dirty rag clothing ... capped hood.. a walking stick with frizzled dark hair. Actually, in typical clifton fashion i shouted "Hobbit!!" in the middle of the concert, oblivous to the many staring eyes on me.

But nevertheless, i highly recommend him and you should go if you have a chance.

Cheers.

Algarve, South of Portugal

With the birth of this new entity, i should be teeming with excitement and writing at all opportunities available. At this moment however, nothing quite strikes me as sufficiently compelling to overcome the inertia of straining my fingertips.. so instead i shall do something has creates a warm fuzzy feeling inside... hhmm.... NO..no not food.. well at least not this time... for this time i shall recall on one my many adventures traveling... So this time the destination of choice is Portugal!

Algarve is the southern region of Portugal, line with several hundred kilometres of shoreline, it makes the perfect spot for West Europeans taking a sunny beachside vacation. Since i was in Europe at that time Tanwee, Xiaoyu and i conspired to take a road trip to this region. Thinking back, Algarve has a "the hills are alive with the sound of music" type of feel to it... As we drove from Spain across the bridge into Portugal...



We were greeted with lush green plains and slopes with the occasional olive tree among the pastures. You know that microsoft windows screensaver that has green hills with a bright blue sky? ya it looks something like that. Driving past the green knolls and plains.. we were greeted by typical Mediterranean architecture, white washed houses offset by the green on the landscape and the glorous blue in the sky. We so 'heng' (to my international friends, this means lucky) that we even saw a rainbow emerge...fwah.. such an auspicious start to the trip.






As some of you might already know, i have been pretty active in promoting this website called couchsurfing.com. Its basically a website that gives you contacts with people in other countries and u can get free accomodation in exchange for a new friendship! Its a great idea that Tanwee introduced me to and our stay in Algarve was going to be a couchsurfing experience. So we were driving towards Estoi where our host, Gerald lives.




We were after all in a foreign land and we did some how manage to get a little disorientated.. but nevertheless we still managed to find out way there. Before we met Gerald.. we were promptly greeted by his two Alaskan Huskies... and one of them appear to get a bit 'friendly' with XY.. haha she looks like she is enjoying it hor? (jokin la XY..haha)




Gerald was equally friendly (haha not in that sense) and after showing us to the room and allowing us to put our things down.. he drove us around for a quick look at Algarve.




You know sometimes in life... there is no need to have tons to things to do.. activities to fill up your time. Slowing down and taking in the surroundings can be as fulfilling and entertaining as anything else... This was one of those moments... I do admit.. us being in Algarve did help quite a lot.. Everywhere u look is just a picture perfect moment... the pictures i took below.. are just random shots taken from a moving car... and u see the blue skys.. with the whites houses... and the boats lazily idling away... The mood felt was such a departure from the busy streets of Singapore... LA...New York... like initially frenzied bees humming along... we gradually slowed down in appreciation of the overwhelmingly calm environment..





I think the video below shows the beach that Gerald brought us to... according to him the land that we see across the ocean is actually Africa! Bear in mind the video quality sux.. and really does no justice to what we saw that day. (haha my new camera canon A620 is coming today and hopefully my new images and videos will be better in the future)



As the sun begins to set, Gerald brought us to a nearby knoll to get a better view of the area... The building you see below is very typical of the region.. blue and white... which seems to be such a perfect color combi with the surroundings





You know i was skeptical of this whole couchsurfing thing at first but after a couple of trips couchsurfing i was convinced and this trip served to further consolidate that point. Gerald turned out to be such a blessed soul, he shared the portuguese people's concept of time... how they have considerable pride.. they way they did things and really allowed us a peek into his culture. Not only was he hospitable... his parents were just as warm and welcoming. So that night we spent the night talking away beside the fireplace (this one is the real fireplace with actual wood.. not the crappy ass ones that use electricity).. they offered us drinks biscuits and titbits... Although his parents could not speak english very well... we managed to still have a great time. This goes to show that genuine interest.. sincerity, a friendly disposition and a big smile is the true universal language.



The video below shows the room we were put up in.. not bad i say.



the next video shows the next morning when we woke up.... wow just fantastic... they have a orchard full of orange trees in their backyard.. so we were greeted by the sight of the green grass, the blue sky and the oranges.. wonderful! (hahah i know i know i much have repeated green grass and blue like a gazillion times... but its so beautiful.. u have to see it yourself to understand)





To be honest, i can't totally remember what we did that day.. but i know it involved the beach, good company and lots of food. haha.... But the following day we set our sights on a location that bear a significant historical importance, Sagres. Portugal used to be a great empire with many colonies across the world and she was able to accomplish this because of its seafaring abilities then. Sagres was formerly known as the end of the world in those days and before adventurers started sailing to new lands in the age of discovery.. they would start off here. A school of navigation was built at this point and defensive positions were also set up at this particular point. Having heard so many good things about this place.. i was a bit afraid that the weight of expectations would cause this place to be less impressive that what i have in mind... But we were not disappointed... .. (ok i will stop with the blue skies.. u can see yourselves) wow.... it was such a great feeling to be standing there.... with the winds blowing and the steep cliffs that elevate us above the Altantic Ocean.. i really did have an emotion of achievement in this spectacular surroundings...



haha look at tanwee... you might think its a bit stupid to do that.. but the feeling you get from stretching out your hands... closing your eyes and letting the wind bring your imagination back to the Age of Discovery.... the feeling of being free and alive... is simply undescribable.



The following video shows us when we first got out of the car in Sagres








At the tip of the edge of the cliff.. the end of the world!!




But of course... i am not going to end a post without some food getting into the picture... haha .. just so you know... they were caught fresh from the Ocean you saw before and yes... they were delicious!!!! :)



So Algarve.. i dunno whether it is the soothing bleeze.. the blue skies (damn it i have to say it one more time la!).... the friendly locals... the good company..the rich history.. whatever it is.. Algarve has comprehensively captured my soul and i have fallen for yet another gem that this world bestowed on us.

Who is this monster?

Well i guess there is a beginning for everything.. so an introduction is in order.. This monster loves to travel. He has been fortunate enough to be able to study overseas in USA and Europe, taking in different experiences and view from around the world. Paris, Rome...Barcelona... how lucky can one get?







This monster also loves food... when it comes to food... nothing can stand in the way between him and his food. No matter where he is, food and him are like bees and honey... bonnie and clyde.. pen and eraser ... you get the picture. And nothing cheers him up like the sight of food!




He also likes to show his friends a good time by introducing them to the wonderful world of fine dining and appreciation of gastronomic delights.





He is naturally curious and always strives to test the boundaries of human capabilities.




He likes to articulate himself (talk rubbish) and appear knowledgeable.

He loves the outdoors and trekking is one of is favourite pastimes.




He has a self-defecating nature and as such always seeks situations to do dumb things just for the entertainment of his friends.





He does everything for his friends... he gives them thai massages..



Gives them direction when they are lost...



and help them see the light..





But above everything that he is..... he is nothing without his friends





and Family!





He is currently located in Tucson, Arizona (where the sunsets are gorgeous) finishing up his business degree in his final semester before he dutiful returns to serve the nation. So in his last few months of relative freedom, he will attempt to experience as much as possible (though he has done quite a bit now) before duty calls. The blog will hopefully chronicle his adventures and leave a written page in history for him to conduct longing recollections and draw inspiration to live as fully as he can.

Why the hell do i have a blog like everyone else... lame..

Well the short defence is that i am lazy... lazy to crop pictures...lazy to arrange addresses.. lazy to send separate emails due to yahoo addresses limits... and most importantly.. i do not want to clog up precious space on my friend's email accounts...
darn.. i once said i would never join the blogging community.... NEVER... but alas i stand corrected and a broken man facing the overwhelming power of convenience.

So here i am.. do not expect witty banter ... or hourly updates telling you how cool the eye mascara looks on my pretty face... or have an entire dialogue discussing my decision to cut or not... this is my blog and i decide when and where to write. So what you see is what you get.. i post for my own pleasure and i have no obligation to entertain you.

With that being said.. i officially announce the death of my resolve and the birth of a new epic....The Little Green Bag